Washington – It was a tale of two audiences.
The day after President Bush unveiled his plan to send 21,500 more U.S. troops to Iraq, the president was robustly applauded and cheered. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates got pounded.
Bush went to Fort Benning, Ga., and was surrounded with soldiers in camouflage shouting “hooah, hooah.” Rice and Gates went to Capitol Hill to defend Bush’s decision – and encountered stinging criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike.
The president’s strategy for a troop buildup, which polls show is deeply unpopular among Americans, was “the most dangerous foreign-policy blunder in this country since Vietnam,” Republican Chuck Hagel of Nebraska told Rice.
Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., told Gates the administration’s plan was “just absolutely ridiculous, after the colossal and catastrophic failures of your predecessor,” Donald Rumsfeld.
Rice testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the morning, then the House Foreign Affairs Committee in the afternoon. Gates, joined by Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appeared before the House Armed Services Committee.
They found themselves embroiled in the first pitched exchanges in a battle likely to dominate Congress for months or longer and is already shaping the 2008 presidential election.
It was the administration’s first defense of its war strategy before the newly Democratic- controlled Congress.
In Fort Benning, Bush cautioned that the troop increase “is not going to yield immediate results. It’s going to take awhile.”
His plan, outlined in a prime-time address to the nation on Wednesday, would raise troop levels in Iraq by 21,500 – from 132,000 to 153,500 – at a cost of $5.6 billion. It also calls for the Iraqi government to increase its own forces and to do more to quell sectarian violence.
“American patience is limited, and obviously if the Iraqis fail to maintain their commitments we’ll have to revisit our strategy,” said Gates.
Gates said he was requesting increasing the size of the Army and Marine Corps by 92,000 troops over the next five years.
He also said the Pentagon would recall to duty sooner than planned some National Guard and Reserve troops who have served year-long tours in Iraq or Afghanistan.
As Rice testified to the House committee, Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., likened Bush’s plan to a “hail Maliki pass” – jokingly combining Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s name with the football “Hail Mary” desperation pass.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he hoped to bring up a nonbinding resolution expressing opposition to any troop buildup. A similar move is expected in the House.
“In choosing to escalate the war, the president virtually stands alone,” Reid said.
Rice calmly walked the committee through the revamped war plan while acknowledging that what has been done until now has not succeeded.
“I ask that you give it a chance to work,” she said.
